The Dark Returns
by Aquailita
Summary: Ryou and Marik thought that their yamis were gone forever. They have already managed to stop grieving about their devastating losses and terrifying experiences. But are their darker halves really as forever gone as they thought? Ryou finds out that the answer might be 'no'. But who's back? Sequel to "The Light Cries Again". Final part of the Tears of Light and Dark trilogy (ToLaD).
1. Chapter 1

Note: This is part 3 in the Tears of Light and Dark trilogy. Originally, I had made each one a month apart and each one was a single chapter. But that's changing now because I'm separating each of them into 2 chapters at the climax. I will not make another AN for each part where it splits (meaning the first chapter of each will be missing an EndingAN and each 2nd chapter will be missing an OpeningAN) because I am litterally taking the chapers exactly as they are and splitting them in half, no edits (except for spelling errors, but that's it).

* * *

Summary: Ryou and Marik thought that Bakura and Melvin were gone forever. They had long since stopped grieving about their losses and experiences. But are their darker halves really as forever gone as they thought? Ryou finds out that the answer just might have been 'no'. A sequel to "The Light Cries Again", which is the sequel to "When The Dark Dies, The Light Cries". The final part of the Tears of Light and Dark trilogy.

Rating: T

Characters: R. Bakura & Yami Bakura.

Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Romance

* * *

**HELLOOOOOO! It has been another month since I posted WDDTLC, and it has been one month since I have posted The Light Cries Again. I didn't really consider doing a third one, but the thought just came to me when I realized something about the Millenium Ring. So here it is. A finale to the Tears of Light and Dark trilogy (that's what I'm calling it now). ****I suggest you read the first and second parts first. **

**This is about how Ryou and Marik realize that their yamis may not be as dead as they thought. But who is coming back? The main pairing here is (onesided ish on Bakura's part) tendershipping. However, the first two parts may seem to have a sort of minor touch of angstshipping in them, but it was unintentional.**

**Again, MINOR abridged personalities and names. (Ex: Joey says 'nyeh' and Marik says 'frig', but Tristan isn't a random idiot and Tea isn't a horny slut.) Yami Marik is Melvin, Hikari Marik is Marik. Bakura is sometimes Florence. **

**I pretty much worked on this mostly all of three days, but spent two more typing it. This is going to be another _REALLY_ long story, so sit tight and grab some spare time and popcorn!**

**R&R**

**ENJOY~!**

* * *

_"Ryou... I'm still here."_

_"Bakura? You're back?"_

_"How many times do I have to tell you? Yes, I am. Why do you never believe me?"_

_"Because this dream is too good to be true."_

_"It's not a dream."_

_"Then why-?"_

_The images flashed into his mind again. He knew that some of them were his and some of them were Bakura's. They were flashbacks from that day. These things had already been described to him by Marik about a week after it had happened, months ago. And now he was seeing it again first hand. And he didn't like it at all. He felt every scratch that his yami had felt, every sharp pain, every stab. The physical pain was almost as agonizing as the mental torment of reliving it all._

_"Now do you believe me?"_

_Ryou temporarily shook off the mental pain and torment to respond and smile. "I wish I could. Thank you again."_

_"Please, wear the Ring today. Wear it all day. Just do it."_

_"I can't... It's too sad."_

_"Just do it!"_

_"I-"_

_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!_

"AH!" Ryou fell out of bed all tangled up in the bed sheets. His head hit the floor and he was dazed for a few seconds. But at least he was awake.

He sat up, untangled himself from the blankets, and looked around. Then he unbuttoned his nightshirt and picked up the pendant around his neck: the Millenium Ring.

"Another dream of Bakura..." he whispered.

For the past week, Ryou had been wearing the Millenium Ring under his shirt every night when he slept. But he had been having these same dreams. His yami had come back and told him stuff. He always asked him to wear the Ring all day and to believe that this wasn't a dream. But Ryou wouldn't even dare to let himself hope that his abusive and controlling, yet loving darker side was alive and well. And although he had put his heart at ease just a week ago with the retelling of the story, wearing the Ring still brought him sadness and memories, both good and bad, that he didn't want to corrupt the peace in his heart.

So how could he believe that Bakura was still existing in the world of the living?

He couldn't. That was the thing.

He removed the Ring from around his neck and set it on the nightstand next to his bed.

He got off the floor, fixed his bed, then left his room to get ready for the day and have breakfast.

* * *

Ryou wasn't really planning on doing much that day. School was out for the time being, so he decided to work on some extra credit today since he had nothing better to do. He returned to his room and turned on the computer.

As it was starting up, he randomly glanced over to the Millenium Ring on the nightstand. He stared at it. It gleamed in the light coming through the window, almost calling out to him. After a few moments, he decided to just wear it for today. After all, how bad could it possibly be to wear it for one day?

He walked over to the Ring, picked it up, then walked over to his computer chair and sat back down. The log in screen loaded up and he slipped the string around his neck again. He held it in one hand. It felt cool and smooth. Yet, at the same time, it felt warm. Somehow.

He let go and logged in. He began the extra credit and also decided to study.

* * *

_~Exactly 11.99 hours later~_

* * *

Later in the day, Ryou had finished the extra credit and studying. He had also re-read a chapter of a book for school. Now, he had some free time to do whatever he wanted. As it turned out, wearing the Ring hadn't been distracting at all. At the moment, he was playing a card game against the computer and he was winning too.

_~Exactly 00.01 hours later~_

He was about to win for about the fifth time. But suddenly, he felt a strange presence in his mind. Then a voice. It spoke one word, but the sound faded to fast for him to recognize who's it belonged to.

"Hello."

The first two people who came to mind were Marik and Bakura, in that order. He pushed the _latter_ of the two out of his thoughts, even though he should have already considered Marik an unreasonable option first because Marik didn't even have mental contacts with him. Yet, the thought that Bakura was back was even more unreasonable.

He held this idea now, even as he slowly faded out of conciousness. His last words before his senses blackened out were, "What's happening?"

His control slipped away and his head hit the keyboard.

When his head hit the keyboard, he accidentally hit "Enter". The wrong card was selected and on the computer's next turn "Ryou" lost the game.

.

After a moment he woke up, stood up, and looked around, making sure that nothing was amiss and that everything was just the way it was last time he saw it.

"Good," he said content. He walked over to the phone and dialed a friend of his.

* * *

At Marik's apartment, the phone rang three times before someone picked it up.

"I got it, sis!" he shouted to his visiting sister who was sitting on the couch. He ran into the living room and picked it up after looking at the caller ID. "Hello, Ryou. What's up?"

["Hello again, Marik. How are you?"} That was strange. Ryou's voice sounded a bit strained and forced. Was he feeling alright?

"I'm fine. What's wrong with your voice? Are you sick or something?"

{"No. I feel better than ever actually. Do me a favor and get your ass over here now."}

"What?!" Marik asked confusedly. Since when did Ryou talk like that? He was usually so polite and kind, and almost never had an attitude. "Are you feeling okay? Since when do you talk like that?"

{"Just do it, Ishtar."} Then Ryou hung up.

Marik stared at the phone, even more confused. But if Ryou was desperate enough to talk the way he just did, then something important must have happened. He wasted no time in getting ready to go over there.

As he was about to run out the door, Ishizu's voice stopped him. "Marik?" she asked. "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"Over to Ryou's house," he answered. "See you later," he said, and he rushed out the door, locking it behind him.

Ishizu stared at the closed door for a few seconds, then turned back to what she was doing before and said, "I hope Bakura is doing alright."

**(AN: She said "Bakura", but she was referring to Ryou since it _is_ his last name.)**

* * *

_~Meanwhile~_

* * *

After he hung up, he tiredly fell to the floor.

.

Ryou woke up and sat up. He looked around. To his surprise, he found himself back in his soul room.

"Oh my... Why am I here?" he wondered aloud. "I haven't been in here in months." Being in his soul room was always a bit unnerving because he knew that it was a visual representation of his state of mind and heart. He sometimes hid his emotions and thoughts so that others wouldn't worry. He had gotten so good at it that he sometimes forgot himself what he was feeling. But here, nothing was hiding, and he was forced to face the truth about himself. And now, he saw his true feelings on what had happened to Bakura. He could literally feel the sadness on his skin.

His heart sped up and he began breathing hard. He didn't want to deal with this right now. He had to get out of here.

He ran over to the door and opened it, not surprised that is was unlocked.

He stepped out into his soul hallway. But why was there a hallway here? There was only one room in it.

But then he looked across the hallway... And gasped at what he saw.

He would have investigated more, but he was abruptly pulled out of the hallway.

.

Ryou woke up staring at the ceiling. He sat up and looked around, making sure nothing was amiss. Nothing was.

He sighed in relief and stood up. He noticed that he was next to the phone. He picked it up and hit redial to see what would show up. Marik's name and home number came up, along with the time of the last call which was about five minutes ago. Ryou quickly hung up before the call could go through. Then he looked at the computer screen and saw that he had lost the game he had been playing. "Aw..." he said sadly. "Oh well." He started a new game and tried to remember what happened as he played.

He could recal hearing a voice, which he still hadn't placed, saying "Hello" and then falling asleep at the computer. But that was it.

"OH! ANOTHER MEMORY LAPSE!" he shouted. Now he had two, or maybe three, hints. But he still didn't believe any of them. He couldn't let himself believe it. The last thing he wanted was false hope and so far his mind was giving him nothing but that.

He kept playing the game for about fifteen more minutes. Suddenly, the door bell rang.

"Who could that be?" Ryou asked aloud. He got up and walked to the front door. He tiptoed to look out the peephole. To his surprise, Marik was there.

"Marik?" He stepped away from the peephole and opened the door. Marik looked up when he heard the door open.

"Hey, Ryou."

"Hi, Marik. What are you doing here?"

Marik gave him a confused look. "Why do you think I'm here? You called me over about twenty minutes ago. What did you want to tell me?"

"I-" Ryou was about to say 'didn't call you', but he remembered that the last call made from his house phone _was_ to Marik. But who made it...

No... It couldn't be...

"Ryou?" Marik asked in a concerned voice. "You okay?" Ryou had zoned out. Marik looked down and saw that Ryou was wearing the Millenium Ring, a first for that particular week. "Hey, you're wearing the Ring again. Nice."

At the word 'Ring', Ryou zoned back in and groaned a bit. "This can't be happening..." he whispered as he turned away from his visitor and headed back to his room. Before he disappeared though, he motioned for Marik to come inside. He did so and closed the door behind him.

"Wait... What do you mean by that? What can't be happening?"

When Marik entered Ryou's room, he found the white-haired teen lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling and holding the Millenium Ring with one hand. "I just don't want to believe it."

"Believe what?" Marik sat on the computer chair. "What's been bothering you? Tell me."

Ryou sighed and sat up. "I... You did receive a call from here, but I have no memory of calling you myself."

"What? That doesn't make any sense! Unless you have someone here that called me and faked your voice. That would explain why you sounded a bit strange over the phone. You said, and I quote, 'Do me a favor and get your ass over here. Just do it, Ishtar'. I was thinking to myself 'What the frig is wrong with him today?'... So what _did_ happen?"

"I..." How to explain this? Just straight out tell him? "Well, you know I keep having weird dreams about my yami, right?"

"Right..." Ryou had told him about it a few days ago.

"And the same happened last night. He kept telling me to wear the Ring, and that he was back. But I just couldn't believe it. I knew it wasn't real. I decided to study a bit and do some of the extra credit..."

"Oh, me too," Marik interrupted. "You mind helping me with the extra credit later?"

"Sure, anyway..." Ryou returned to the subject of his yami. "Before I started, I decided to wear the Millenium Ring for a while, just because I was home and not really doing much. So I did. A few hours later, after I had finished the extra credit and did some studying, I was playing a game. I was winning, too. Then I lost consciousness out of nowhere."

"Wha- Really?" Marik asked. He knew that something like that was rare for Ryou, especially nowadays. So why did it happen? "Keep going. When did you wake up?"

"I'm not sure about the timing, but I woke up in my soul room."

"Your soul room? But how would that happen? You shouldn't end up in there unless someone put you there or you purposely went there. So does that mean..."

Ryou held up a hand to stop his friend. "I'm getting there... So I um... left the room and I saw..." he trailed off, unable to continue.

"What? What did you see?" When Ryou didn't answer, Marik frowned and moved from where he was and sat next to him on the bed. He gently shook his shoulder. "Come on..." No answer. "Frig dammit, Ryou! Keep talking. I want to know what happened!"

Ryou sighed sadly. He was still in denial. He still didn't want to believe it. It was too much to hope for. And even if it was true, he didn't want it to be true. Despite how badly he wished Bakura was back, he still feared the ancient spirit's rage and control. It scared him. So, it was all but reasonable that Ryou didn't want to believe that he was back. "Well... I was probably dreaming, maybe even hallucination, but I thought I saw the door to Bakura's soul room."

Marik shot up and shouted, "OH MY HOLY FRIGGING RA! WHAT?!" His voice was so loud and his movements so sudden that Ryou flinched.

"I _thought_ I saw it. I didn't have time to make sure. For all I know, I was simply looking in a mirror and I saw my own door in the reflection. I can't be certain."

"Are you kidding me?! It's totally obvious! Bakura is ba-"

Ryou quickly stood up, grabbed Marik, and put a hand over his mouth. Marik struggled against it and tried to free himself. "No! That just isn't possible. Don't even suggest it!"

Marik succeeded in freeing himself from Ryou's hold. "Why the hell not? Are you seriously doubting tha-" Marik stopped himself when he noticed the sad expression on Ryou's face. "What is wrong with you today?"

"I just can't... I don't want to believe it's true. I don't want it to _be_ true!"

"Why not?"

"You know why..."

"No I d-" Wait... he did. He knew that Ryou missed Bakura. But he also knew that he still feared and hated Bakura. The torture and restriction and manipulation that he suffered at the hands of his yami were still a factor. Ryou missed, but feared, Bakura. So his response is to be in denial of his return? "Why?" he asked. "Why can't you believe that he's alive after all this time? I want to believe it as well."

"You don't get it. I'm not just denying it. I _know_ it. I've worn and held the Millenium Ring several times in the past, and he didn't speak up or try to take over our- _my_- body again. And how could he be back after so many months? In what way could he possibly return? There's no way. He sacrificed his life for me. He is dead and gone. How could he be back?"

Every word that Ryou uttered made Marik angrier and angrier. And sadder, too. How could Ryou be so stupid about this?

"It's so frigging obvious! He talks to you in your dreams and has been for the past week that you've been wearing it again, even if it is only at night. You made a call to me, but don't remember it. You woke up in your soul room. You lost consciousness randomly. It's all pointing to one thing: BAKURA IS BACK!"

"If Bakura can come back, then wouldn't that mean that Melvin can too? Have _you_ been hearing _him_?"

"I-" Now Marik wondered... Ryou had a point. If Bakura was back, why not Melvin? But he wanted to believe that Ryou's yami and not his yami was back, just as badly as Ryou wanted to believe he wasn't. "I... Because..."

Ryou smirked. And he wasn't one to smirk often, so it looked strange to see such a smile on such an innocent face as his. "See, Marik? You can't think of an explanation. I can. He's not back. This all makes no sense. I'm done with the strange dreams." He turned away from Marik. "I don't want to keep being reminded of it." He reached for the string around his neck to remove the Millenium Ring. "I have come to terms with it, but that doesn't mean I don't still shed a tear about it. And I don't want to anymo-" He stopped talking in the middle of the word when he felt something strange going on in his head. He had just wrapped his hands around the string that held up the Millenium Ring.

Then, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. It felt like someone was stabbing him. He cried out in pain. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! HELP!"

Marik ran over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Ryou! What happened?!"

"I...it...the..." He couldn't speak properly at the moment. He sank to his knees and bent over in pain. His hands let go of the string. His left hand moved to the floor to hold him up; his right hand moved to his chest, holding it in pain.

The sharp stabbing pain was growing by the second instead of fading away as one might expect. "Help...again...it's..."

Marik knelt down next to him and put one hand on Ryou's back, the other on the hand pressed against his chest. "What happened? Are you having a heart attack?! Should I call-"

"NO! IT'S NOT...I know...the...my skin...five...but...promise..." Ryou continued speaking nonsense, his mind preoccupied on the agonizing stabbing feelings in his chest.

Marik moved his hand away from Ryou's with the idea of calling for help. But he stopped and stared at his hand. It had blood on it. But it couldn't be his because he hadn't ben cut or anything like that. So it was Ryou's? He looked over at the boy on the floor, still in the same position.

Ryou knew exactly what had happened. Now, there was no more doubt in his mind of the truth. He had felt this same type of pains before and after a time had become familiar with how it felt. But that didn't mean he had ever grown used to it or overcame the pain of it. As best as he could manage, he turned to Marik and moved his hand away.

Marik gasped loudly at what he saw. Underneath Ryou's hand was the Millenium Ring, which was glowing slightly. And all five points were tearing though his shirt and impaled his chest.

"How...?"

"Bakura...is...back."


	2. Chapter 2

Ryou fell to the floor, passed out from the pain. It had never been this bad before; usually it was simply irritatingly painful, but now the pain was paralyzing. He couldn't handle it and blacked out.

Marik ran back to his side. "Ryou!" In his mind, he debated whether to ask about the Ring or about Bakura. After a few seconds, he decided to ask about Bakura because it seemed that whatever was going on with the Ring was Bakura's doing. "How is this Bakura's fault?" When he got no response, he picked his friend up and shook him. "Wake up! Ryou! Wake up!"

He stirred a bit, but didn't wake up or make any noise. Marik stared at his closed eyes worriedly. What was going to happen to him?

He picked him up and carried him over to his bed. The Ring's five sharp points were still digging into his chest and he was still bleeding. His shirt was pinned against his skin and was absorbing the blood coming from the five wounds. Marik regarded the sight thoughtfully, then carefully tried to pull one of them out. A slight shockwave entered his hand and stung him a bit. He drew back.

It seemed like the only thing he could do now was try to clean the blood and stop the bleeding. He stood up and walked to the doorway. Just before he exited, he heard Ryou make a noise. He turned to look.

The first thing he noticed was that the hair had changed.

Bakura sat up and stretched (and yawned in a cat-like manner, Marik noted) as if waking up in the morning.

He looked Marik in the eyes and smiled. "Nice to see you again," he said.

Marik stood there frozen for a few seconds, trying to comprehend what was happening. The shock wore off and he willed his body to move. The first thing he did was run over to him and him. "OH MY GOSH BAKURA YOU'RE BACK THIS IS SO FRIGGING AWESOME!"

"Marik! Get off! I'm kind of injured here, you know!" The former thief king shoved his former partner-in-crime away from him.

"Oops, sorry. How are you here?! We both missed you so much!"

"I kno- Wait. _Ryou_ missed me?"

Marik nodded.

Bakura seemed slightly surprised. "Well, then. Glad to know that he actually _cared_."

"'Course he did." Marik felt a little guilty about this, but he was showing more concern for _Bakura _now that he was back and well rather than for Ryou. "How did you-"

Bakura held up a hand to cut him off. "Before you interrogate me I need to do a few things first. I suggest you leave the room or just face the other way while I do this first one."

"Why?"

He pointed to the Millenium Ring that was still digging into his skin. "Do you really want to watch me pull this thing out of me?"

"Um. No."

"Exactly."

Marik turned around, and covered his ears just to be safe.

After a few seconds, Bakura tapped him on the shoulder. He removed his hands from his ears and heard him say, "It's done."

Marik turned around just in time to see all five wounds rapidly healing. He stared at it with a slightly creeped out expression on his face, which Bakura noticed. "You've gotten too soft since becoming 'good'," he teased. He was holding the Millenium Ring in his hand, having removed it from around his neck, all five points covered in blood. His shirt was still soaked around the five tears, but there was no new blood.

"Oh shut up. Actually no, tell me stuff now."

"I said a _few_ things not just one. Give me a few minutes." He got up walked over to Ryou's closet, and picked out a shirt identical to the torn one he wore. He took off the first shirt, wiped up the blood still on his body with a few tissues, and put on the clean and not-ripped shirt. He tossed the old one on the floor, not planning to pick it up later. Not his problem.

He sat back down on the bed and leaned against the wall. "Don't bother me. I'll be back shortly," he told Marik. Then he zoned out.

It took Marik a few seconds to figure out what Bakura meant by 'be back shortly'. Back from where?

"Oh," he said out loud when he figured it out. "Soul room or whatever. Oh okay."

* * *

Bakura stood face to face with the doorway to his soul room. The door was wide open.

Then he turned around. His hikari's door was slightly ajar. He walked over to it and cautiously entered, just in case Ryou planned to _attempt_ a sneak attack on him. Which would fail either way.

He looked around and noticed Ryou lying in the middle of the floor on his back. He was holding his chest like he had been a few minutes ago. He was trembling, and his face mirrored how he felt: scared and physically pained.

Bakura walked up to him with a genuinely caring smile on his face. He bent down and put a hand on his head, then nudged it. "Ryou," he whispered. "Wake up."

He recognized the voice. It really was... He carefully opened his eyes partially, then fully snapped them open when he recognized the person leaning over him. "Ba-Bakura!" He didn't know how he should feel. Happy? Confused? Terrified? Relieved? Sad? Skeptical? All of these showed on his face as the emotions battled in his heart for dominance.

Bakura recognized each one on his face and felt them in the room they were in. "Get up," he whispered.

"I-" He still didn't know what to feel.

He could tell that his hikari wouldn't be able to move untill he sorted out his emotions, which he figured wouldn't happen any time soon. He knew what to do to speed things up. He slid one arm under his legs, one arm under his arms, and lifted him up and carried him out of the room.

Without thinking, Ryou wrapped an arm around his yami's shoulder. His face was void of all emotion, but Bakura could feel the inner turmoil that was taking place in his mind and heart.

He carried him out and into the void beyond the hallway, then re-entered the real world.

* * *

After about two minutes, Marik noticed Bakura zoning back in. He perked up to see what would happen.

His eyed widened in confusion as he noticed Bakura lift his arms as if he was holding something. Or someone, it seemed. Because he could see Ryou gradually becoming visible in his yami's arms. His eyes were closed and his expression was indeterminable. To Marik, the sight of the two of them together like that was very adorable and almost as heartwarming.

Bakura set Ryou's spirit down on the bed between him and Marik. A moment later, he opened his eyes and looked around. He finally showed some emotion by smiling briefly at Marik, but it fade when he turned to Bakura. After a moment, he finally sorted out his feelings and practically glomped his darker half. He squeezed tightly and began sobbing loudly. "You're back," he whispered loud enough for Bakura, but not Marik, to hear. "I missed you."

"Did you now?"

Ryou nodded.

Marik was happy that the two had reunited, but was still hung up on the fact that he could see Ryou even though Bakura was in control and technically should be the only one able to see him. He questioned this. "Um... This is nice and all, but I'm wondering how I can see him."

Bakura chuckled a bit at Marik's ignorance and his perfect moment-ruining question. "I know how to do things. Now Ryou get off." He broke out of Ryou's embrace and scooted away. Ryou quickly dried his face and calmed down a bit. "Let's move to the floor, shall we?" Bakura suggested.

The two hikari's nodded and slid off the bed with him. The three sat in a circle on the floor and everyone relaxed. Ryou noticed that thankfully his- well his body's- shirt was fine. Through their bond, he could also tell that his body was fine and uninjured. But he noticed a bloody shirt on the floor a few feet away. He pointed at it. "Um... What's tha-"

Bakura glanced at the item Ryou pointed at. "Don't."

"But what's-"

"Don't..."

"But-"

"Ryou..." he raised his voice a bit and glared threateningly at him.

He remembered what the Millenium Ring had done to him. His face showed slight fear and he backed off.

"Yes, yami."

"Anyway..." Marik started. "Are you going to tell us how you managed to resurrect yourself?"

"I was getting to that, Marik. After all, that _is_ why I called you over."

"So it was you!" Ryou exclaimed.

"Yes it was. Anyway. I want you both to be here when I tell you because you two are the only people I feel obligated to tell anyway." He averted his gaze and smirked. "Though I would like to rub it in the Pharaoh's face that I'm back."

"Just stop stalling and tell us, Fluffy."

"Marik, shut up. Ryou, don't laugh." Ryou had giggled a bit at the nickname. "Now, about why I'm here. Haven't you ever wondered why I keep returning to the Millenium Ring no matter how many Shadow Games I loose to Melvin or the Pharaoh?" Hearing that, Marik _finally_ remembered about his former yami. He would have to ask about that later.

Both hikaris nodded.

"Because my soul is bound to the Ring, that's why," he answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You both know that my soul was bound to the Millenium Ring 5000 years ago. I'm pretty much stuck in it until the time comes for... _something_... and will always return to it no matter what." He looked at Ryou when he said this, "Even through death. I didn't even really die. I just used my Shadow magic to transform my soul into a teleportive shield around your heart." He turned to Marik and continued. "I didn't die; I was just sent out into the void somewhere. In truth, I was perfectly fine."

When Bakura said this, Ryou's smile faded a bit. _He knew he would survive? He knew there was no risk? Then why...?_ His smile faded completely and he stopped paying attention

"Though at the time I was too frantic to realize that I would be fine and would be back eventually, so I left a goodbye note for Ryou. Speaking of which, glad to know you had enough sense to figure out my instructions... Hey!" He yelled at Ryou and slapped his arm. Ryou perked up and refocused. "Pay attention, host. I'm talking about you! And I'm mostly talking _to_ you so listen to what I'm saying, okay?"

Ryou's frown deepened at the word 'host', but he nodded and started paying more attention.

"Good. Now as I was saying, glad to know that you figured out about the Shadow Blade I set up for you. You _did_ use it on Melvin when you woke up, right?" He looked back and forth between Marik and Ryou. They both nodded.

"Wait a second," Marik said. "Melvin is gone for good? Like never coming back like you did?"

"I don't know, Marik. You tell me. Is he still taking up space in your mind?"

"I- no. But why did you come back and not him?"

"Because I'm bound to the ring; he's not the same. He's not an ancient spirit using your body like I am with Ryou. He's an alternate personality that you unwillingly created out of your pain and anger during your... ritual. Kind of like an imaginary friend."

"Hey!" Marik shouted defensively. "He was _not_ imaginary! He was very real and-"

"Calm down. I said 'like'. Haven't you ever heard of similes?"

"Yes I... Oh shut up and just keep going."

Bakura rolled his eyes and smirked at him. "Okay then. Should I shut up or keep talking?"

"You know what I mean!"

"Right. Anyway, he was connected to you, not the Millenium Rod. And he wasn't bound to you, he was simply a part of you. A part of you that no body liked and my brave hikari thankfully got rid of. Good job."

"Oh um... thanks," Ryou said with a weak smile.

"But what took you so long to get back, Bakura?" Marik asked.

Bakura turned to him. "Hm?"

"Why did it take so many moths to come back?"

"Yeah, I wanna know too," Ryou said. "Why didn't you come back sooner."

"I didn't," he answered them both. "I didn't take that long."

"But me and Ryou haven't heard from you in months!"

"Not my fault."

"Oh yeah?" Marik folded his arms. "Then whose fault is it?"

"His," he said, pointing to Ryou.

The teen's eyes widened at the accusation. He pointed to himself and asked innocently. "Me? What did I do?"

Bakura sighed and facepalmed. "Let me explain something to you both. When I get sent to the Shadow Realm, usually afer I... ahem... _lose_ a Shadow Game, it usually takes 24 to 48 hours for me to return to the Millenium Ring. It takes less time the closer the Ring is to Ryou since he _is_ my host and we _do_ have a bond. But this time, it was different. I wasn't in the Shadow Realm. I was essentially _dead_. So it took much longer than usual for me to return to the Ring."

"'Much longer' meaning SIX FRIGGING MONTHS AND ABOUT THIRTEEN FRIGGING DAYS LONGER?!" Bakura punched his over-hyper friend in the arm. "OW!"

"Calm down. And no, I mean about a week longer. The Millenium items have a close connection with the world of the Shadows, but not such a great connection with the world of... where ever I was. So it was difficult to get back to the Ring."

"But Yami..." Ryou said. "That still doesn't explain why it took so long for you to come out. I held the Ring after Marik and I got out of the hospital, and I started wearing it again a week ago. Why haven't you spoken to me sooner?"

"I did. And once again, not my fault. Yours."

"But why?! I still don't get it! What did I do?"

Bakura sighed irritated and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Because you were in denial and were being so bloody stubborn for a week! I told you to wear it more and you didn't listen."

Ryou was British, so his yami was as well by default. However, both of them have long taught themselves to not show it in their vocabulary. So it was rare for Ryou, and even rarer for the spirit of the Millenium Ring, who was actually Egyptian, to let a word slip out.

So Ryou know that he had really screwed up if Bakura was mad enough to have let the word 'bloody' slip out.

Now he was scared again.

Bakura closed one eye and glared at his hikari with the other one. "Here's how it works. When my spirit is separated from out Millenium Ring and I return to it, our bond still needs to be fully reestablished. That takes time. Hours. _Twelve_ hours to be exact. During the short hour you wore it last week, I was able to relink our minds slightly so we could still mentally converse when you were wearing the Ring and when your mind was relaxed enough. I found out after that point that such a situation occurred when you were sleeping, and I was able to contact you in your dreams. I tried to tell you that I was back and that you needed to wear the Ring for longer, but you refused to listen to me once again! You went against what I told you to do and insisted that you knew better. Yo were too stubborn and stupid to see reason! Didn't you learn that lesson when you allowed Melvin to almost murder you?"

At this point Bakura was shouting and Ryou was silently crying. Ryou knew his yami was right. Both times he _had_ been stubborn and not listened to him. Everything really _was_ his fault. He had been in denial and those around him had suffered.

"I-I'm sorry," he whispered to both of them. He bowed his head guiltily.

A long and awkward silence followed, which Marik decided to break.

"Nice one Bakura," he said angrily. "Now you've made him sad!" He tried to give the crying boy a hug, but his arms slipped right through. "Oh... kaaaaaaay... Very creepy."

"Get used to it," Bakura said to him. "Only I can feel him." To prove his point, he reached over and poked Ryou's arm.

"Ryou slapped the hand away.

Bakura dramatically drew back. "Well! No need to be like that." Ryou sniffed in response. "Look, Ryou. Yes, you made a mistake than angered me, but I forgive you for it. You didn't know any better. Ad I love you too much not to forgive you anyway."

Marik gaped at Bakura, taken aback by the confession.

"What?" Bakura asked him. He turned to Ryou but continued to address Marik. "Yes, I do love him. I've grown rather fond of this body and the boy who owns it. How could I not? He's kind of like my pet. He's my hikari, my light. I admit that I sometimes steal light from him, when he doesn't need it of course. He's my other half and he balances me out. Plus you have to admit he's absolutely adorable sometimes. Of course I care about him."

"NO YOU DON'T!" said hikari suddenly shouted. "You don't really care..."

Bakura looked at him confusedly. "What makes you say that?"

"Everything..." Ryou curled up and wrapped his arms around his legs.. He didn't meet his yami's eyes. "You said it yourself. To you, I'm just some pet that you like to control and restrain. You steal light from me! You always tell me what to do and you hurt those around me! And I still remember the Monster World game! And you did it just so increase your power! You used me and controlled me! And when you used to stab me with the Millenium Ring...?" he began crying harder. "I thought you weren't doing that anymore! You promised!"

This whole scene made Marik feel very awkward. He started to wonder why he was even there. Then he remembered that Bakura had called him. Still, he couldn't help but feel out-of-place then and there.

"Ryou I..." Bakura sighed and scooted over to him. He put an arm around the boy and took it as a good sign that he didn't try to move away. "Everything I did to you was to protect or help you. About the Monster world, If i only did it to gain power I would have simply done it to every person you met. But I only did it to your friends and enemies. 'Keep your friends close but your enemies closer'. And another thing: I protected you directly! Duelist Kingdom, Battle City, Melvin, all of that was-"

"No. I don't believe you! You weren't even protecting me, you were just protecting yourself!"

"Why would you think that!"

"You kept me safe, but you didn't really care about _me_. You only cared about my body!...Wow that sounds so wrong out of context. But anyway... You only risked yourself to save my life from him because you knew that you would be back to use me again!"

"What do... Ooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh... That's what this is about."

"What?"

Out of nowhere, Marik started laughing. The white-haired yami-hikari duo glared at him. "What are you laughing about, Marik?" Ryou asked.

"Hahahaa... I'm laughing at your terrible listening skills."

"Wh-"

"Weren't you paying attention when he said he was too frantic to remember that he would return to us? He was worried about you the whole time!"

"He-"

"You were his first concern. He knew that if he lost to my darker side, that you would be gone, too. He would still be in the Millenium Ring, but you wouldn't."

"I... didn't... know..."

He finally stopped crying. Which was good because he didn't even know he had that many tears to cry.

Bakura gently stroked his hair. "Shhhh... It's alright. It's alright."

Ryou sniffed one last time and was silent. He seemed to have calmed down significantly.

"I'm sorry."

"I already told you, I forgive you. Stop apologizing."

"Alright then." Without any warning, Ryou yawned and stretched and almost hit Bakura in the face. "Sorry."

Bakura smiled wider and hugged him tighter. Then he began to softly sing to his hikari.

"Don't fret precious I'm here/ Step away from the window (step away from the window)/ And go/ Back to sleep" "Lay your head down child/ I won't let the boogeyman come/ Count the bodies like sheep to the rhythm of the war drums/ Pay no mind to the rabble/ Pay no mind to the rabble/ Head down, go to sleep/ To they rhythm of the war drums"

By the end of the chorus, Ryou appeared to have fallen asleep. Understandable, seeing as he had been crying for about five minutes straight and had been in an extreme amount of pain a while ago.

"Taking him back, Marik," Bakura announced. He picked Ryou up in the same way he had brought him out in, and zoned out again. Ryou began to disappear from Marik's sight.

* * *

Bakura walked into his hikari's soul room and gently set him down on the floor. He was still sleeping.

The yami gently kissed his forehead, then walked back out into the real world.

* * *

"Kay back," he announced when he had returned.

"Um... no homo, Bakura," Marik said. "But you have a sexy singing voice."

"I know. Anyway, what do you want to do now? Since you don't steal things anymore, wanna do some hacking?"

Actually, in celebration of Bakura being not dead and all, Marik would have agreed to go steal something with him, just for old time's sake.

"Actually, Bakura, I wouldn't really mind stealing something with you, just like the old days... Hehe and you definitely have a lot of old days AHAHAHAHAH! Ow."

Bakura had facepalmed Marik. "That's a new one, bringing my age into this. I'm not _that_ old, Marik. My spirit is."

Marik waved away the complication. "Oh, same thing. Let's go rob someone now! How about- OH CRAP!" He had just remembered something.

"What?"

"I should probably call Ishizu. She knows I'm here, but not for how long. Hold on." Marik got up and walked over to Ryou's house phone, then redialed his house. Ishizu picked up right away. "Hey sis, I'm fine."

{"Hi Marik. Is Bakura okay?"}

Marik smiled. "Well you could say tha- HEY!"

Bakura snatched the phone away from Marik and spoke to Ishizu himself, with his own voice. "Hello, Isis. Guess who's back!" He quickly gave the phone back to Marik.

{"Yami Bakura is..."}

"Yes, he is. He called me over. Don't worry we're fine."

{"Hm..."} His sister didn't sound convinced. {"Alright, Marik. Just don't go committing any immoral acts or felonies. Or both."}

"Uh... sure okay. Kay see ya love ya bye!" He hung up abruptly.

"Okay now let's go break the law! Glad to have you back!"

"Ah..." Bakura stretched again. "Glad to _be_ back. Oh and apologize to Ryou for me about stabbing him with the Ring again."

"Speaking of which..." Marik never knew that the Millenium Ring could do, or that it ever did, that. And why would Bakura do it when he obviously cared about Ryou?" Why would you do that? That was cruel. You should have seen how much pain he was in."

"I know, I felt it. Just because I care about him doesn't mean I don't enjoy hurting him still. And it was necessary or else he would have taken off the Ring and I never would have been able to come out. I had to take advantage of the opportunity..." He stared at the wall as he recalled the past. "Back when I was a bit less... caring, I did it to keep him from taking it off. It worked. After a while, it just didn't feel right. I promised I would stop doing it, and I kept my promise. Until now. But I swear to Zorc that this will be the very last time."

"Who's Zorc?"

"Uh... another time. Let's go."

"Yes. Let's."

Bakura went to the very back of Ryou's closet and pulled out his favorite trench coat. Meanwhile, Marik went back to the living room to retrieve his jacket which he had thrown on the couch. The two former- or maybe current- thieves met at the front door, then left and hit the town.

* * *

At one point, they passed one of Yugi's friends: Tristan.

"Hi Marik!" he called. "Hey Ryou, what's with the trench coat?"

Bakura turned around and smirked at him. He gasped when he was who it was. "BAKURA!"

Bakura laughed and waved, then kept walking. Marik also waved to show that he was with Bakura.

They both walked off to rob someone or someplace, leaving Tristan frozen in shock.

* * *

The next day at school, Ryou and Yugi passed each other in the hallway before home room.

"Morning, Yugi," Ryou greeted.

"Morning, Ryou," Yugi greeted back.

Just as they passed, the Millenium Ring hiding under Ryou's shirt briefly glowed. He smirked at Yugi. Out of the corner of his eye, Yugi noticed Ryou's hair stand up in several places and his facial expression change briefly. Yami also noticed. The moment passed quickly and the two kept walking.

But Yugi looked back and watched Ryou walk away.

"Looks like Bakura is back," Yami noted.

"Yup," Yugi agreed.

* * *

_**THE END**_

* * *

**YAY! I hope that was a nice ending to the series~!**

**Just a note: Me saying "Ryou" losing the game simply refers to the name he had set for the "Player" on the card game he was playing, which he lost. So "Ryou" the Player lost the card game. And no it wasn't Duel Monsters. It was probably something like Hearts or some other game that used the "Suits" deck, as I like to call it, with the 52 cards and the joker. The song Bakura sang was "Pet" by A Perfect Circle. GO LOOK UP THE TENDERSHIPPING AMV OF IT! IT'S SO AWESOME! (^7^)**

**Once again, I hope my 'good' Marik wasn't too OOC cuz I'm not used to writing him with his not-evil personality.**

**(I'm splitting this and the others into 2 chapters soon, so go back in a day or two and see!)**

**OMG THANKS FOR READING~! **

**See you next time!**

**BYEEEEEEE~!**


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